Like so many colleges and universities across the country, OSU Cascades 'went remote' in March 2020 to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Faculty turned on a dime, shifting their courses from face-to-face to remote over the Spring Break holiday, and students hunkered down for a long term of Zooming.

In the journal entries collected here, students reveal a range of emotional responses to being a college student during COVID, and in their own voices. We witness frustration, sadness at the loss of family and friends, a newfound appreciation for the simple pleasures of life, and confusion about what would come next. Collectively, what these students have in common is their station as first-term, first-year students grappling with the uncertainty and significant disruption brought on by a global pandemic.